The issue is that the XAMPP Control Panel (v3.2.2) does not accurately reflect the state of the program. After clicking "Start" in the XAMPP Control Panel, the status window displays " [Apache] Attempting to start Apache app..." At this point, nothing else happens in the Control Panel software. In previous versions, the Action button would change to "Stop", but this no longer happens.

After clicking "Start" in Control Panel, navigating to "localhost" in the browser shows the Apache Friends page, so this confirms the program started. Also, the httpd.exe process can be viewed using Windows Task Manager.

I observed a similar behavior when clicking "Start" in Control Panel for the MySql module. It simple reads "[mysql] Attempting to start MySQL app...". The "Stop" option does not appear in the button. However, it is possible to navigate to the phpMyAdmin page, so I know the MySQL program is running.

Since the Action button in Control Panel does not change to "Stop" the only way to terminate the http.exe process (and mysqld.exe process if it was started) is by using the Windows Task Manager. Quitting the XAMPP Control Panel does not stop these processes. If someone quits the Control Panel and tries to restart XAMPP thinking the program "hung", the user will get the "port already in use" error.

I did not experience these issues with the XAMPP Control Panel under Windows 7, SP1 64 bit if I chose to install and run the programs as a service. Also, I did not experience any issues with version 7.3.2 Windows 64 Bit Installer under Windows 10.

I don't know if it's relevant, but here is the Apache error log on the Windows 7, SP1 machine:

Just an updated -- I noticed the 7.3.2-2 installer was released after my post. So I tried it, and the same starting problem from 7.3.2-1 persists under Windows 7, SP1. This test was done on a computer that had never previously had XAMPP installed.

Could you please let us know what version of the control panel you are using? I could reproduce your issue with control panel version 3.2.2, but I can’t reproduce it with new version 3.2.3 (compiled at Mar 7th 2019) on Windows 7 Ultimate SP1.

Also, could you please try to run the latest version in a similar Windows environment but in a different computer to avoid issues from previous XAMPP installations?

I apologize. When I posted yesterday, I did not realize that a new installer had been released.

A few minutes ago, I tested the installer released on 2019-03-08, and am pleased to report the issue has been resolved. XAMPP and the control panel ran as expected under Windows 7, SP1. Thank you for the assistance and work on XAMPP.